Is that just a weed in your back yard, or is it Dandelion medicine to boost liver detoxification and improve vision? If you are curious you may want to join HERBalachia’s Herbalist Lifestyle Program series of classes, coming to Abingdon in April. Created in 2016, HERBalacia has offered its hands-on herbal classes partly out of concern that much of our Appalachian herbal knowledge was being lost.
Classes such as plant identification walks and hands-on medicine making teach students to create their own home apothecary of tinctures, teas, salves, lotions, and syrups. Herbal Energetics classes further enhance students’ skills by helping them match up herbal remedies with the needs of friends and family. Every class is chock full of smelling, tasting, and sipping herbal teas to gain deeper connection with the plants.
HERBalachia has offered this program since 2016, when founder Michelle Bouton recognized the need for herbal education in our area. At a time when many people are choosing to cut back on pharmaceuticals and seeking more natural and preventive approaches to health care, interest in herbal education is rising.
“I appreciate the nostalgia that folks in our area have for herbs,” Ms. Bouton says. “It’s not ‘New Age’ at all, because we are just returning to our roots, the familiar medicines our grandparents grew and relied on for good health. It is exciting to teach people that remedies for common issues may be growing in their back yard.”
The Herbalist Lifestyle classes will be held two days per month, April through October at Full Bloom Farm House. Full schedule and details can be found at HERBalachia.com.
